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Exactly 40 years after the Maple Leafs started the NHL’s Swedish experiment in earnest, bringing over Borje Salming and Inge Hammarstrom, some of Tre Kronor’s best still find their way to Toronto.

After Salming came Mats Sundin, Fredrik Modin, Kenny Jonsson, Jonas Hoglund, Mikael Renberg and Carl Gunnarsson. Now the watch begins for another big defenceman who, like Salming, comes from a remote northern mining town in Lapp country.

Petter Granberg has already won a couple of medals on the world stage and will be staying in North America this season, either with the Marlies or Leafs. That assignment will be determined in September at exhibition time, but he’s shaking the jet lag off and getting used to the smaller North American rink this week at the club’s prospect camp.

In Wednesday’s opening scrimmage, a tight 1-0 game at the MasterCard Centre, the 6-foot-3 Granberg frustrated attacking forwards, knocked a couple down and proved the ideal defence partner for high-flying first-rounder Morgan Rielly.

“That’s what Petter does, he defends, he fronts people,” said Leaf player development director Jim Hughes.

“He’s got a great stick, he’s got tight gaps ... you can’t beat him off the rush. He’s a containment guy, but the older he gets, the more aggression he has in his game. When we first had him here three years ago, he was almost polite. Now he has lots of push-back.”

Salming paid the price of a pioneer, enduring physical and verbal abuse in a goon era of the NHL that would have convinced a lesser man to catch the first flight back to Kiruna.

But he played more than 1,110 games with the Leafs and 17 seasons in all.

Granberg, who is from Gallivare, would be the first Swede to play for the Leafs who was born after Salming retired. As Hughes mentioned, he wasn’t on the radar his 2010 draft year, picked 116th overall. But presuming he starts as a Marlie, he’ll join members of his draft class such as Brad Ross and Greg McKegg on a much younger farm team this season.

“I have developed a lot of things during my time in Sweden,” Granberg said. “I’m a better player now. It’s different in Canada and the U.S. because of the small rinks, but I’m learning.”

At the world championships, he played with another former Leaf, Staffan Kronwall (brother of Niklas) and was thrilled to be matched against Canadian star forwards such as Steve Stamkos and Claude Giroux in the medal round. The Swedes won the quarter-final in a shootout and eventually the gold on home ice. The year before, Granberg helped Sweden take the world junior crown on Canadian soil.

Granberg credited coach Jan Erixon and the instruction he received in the national program for allowing him to make the jump the past three years. But the trait that might help him most is his natural affinity to play the body.

“I like the physical game. I like to be the hardest player to play against. But it’s a different game on the small rinks, so you have to adapt.”

Granberg will likely be paired with an offensive defenceman whether he plays at the MCC or ACC, but it won’t likely be Rielly, who must stick with the Leafs or go back to junior. It might be Granberg works with another first-rounder, Stuart Percy.

“Petter is a PK guy, he’s 5-on-5, 4-on-4,” Hughes said. “If he plays in a five-spot (on the depth chart), he might be in a shutdown tandem. He’s had so much success the past 18 months, as well as winning the Swedish Elite Championship (with Skelleftea). The people in Sweden do a great job of coaching him and they deserve a lot of credit.”

Granberg could end up playing under the ACC banners honouring his countrymen.

“They were great players who played for many years,” Granberg said. “Sundin, I watched a few times. And Salming ... well, those are guys who are pretty old.”

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Mats Sundin: Played 981 games ... Franchise scoring leader with 987 points ... Scored 420 goals and 124 power-play goals, both first in team history.

Petter Granberg latest in long line of Swedish Maple Leafs

Exactly 40 years after the Maple Leafs started the NHL’s Swedish experiment in earnest, bringing over Borje Salming and Inge Hammarstrom, some of Tre Kronor’s best still find their way to Toronto.

After Salming came Mats Sundin, Kenny Jonsson, Jonas Hoglund, Mikael Renberg and Carl Gunnarsson. Now the watch begins for another big defenceman who, like Salming, comes from a remote northern mining town in Lapp country.

Petter Granberg has already won a couple of medals on the world stage and will be staying in North America this season, either with the Marlies or Leafs. That assignment will be determined in September at exhibition time, but he’s shaking the jet lag off and getting used to the smaller North American rink this week at the club’s prospect camp.

Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment won’t be able to mark up the ticket prices, but their hockey team is at least trying to convince themselves they’re in the playoffs as the calendar approaches April.